T's & C's (don't) Apply

1: Always Do (only) Your Job

I felt moisture squeeze from the tiny pores on my skin and break through the surface in the form of sweat. I exhaled through my lips and my fingertip clutched onto the iPad in my hands. I stared at the many faces of executives and foreign investors through a large glass window.

"What are you waiting for?" My manager hissed from behind me.

"Get in there and save all our arses," Lisa, the assistant manager waved me into the boardroom.

My brows creased together, and my stomach churned. I didn't know how I, a mere 23-year-old intern landed myself in the position I currently was in.

Oh right, it was because of my big mouth. I was an intern at one of the biggest up-and-coming tech companies in the country. Berk Panta Innovative was one of the many companies part of Berk Industries. However, the company was the newest in the group and I felt like I hit a jackpot when I was accepted to intern at Berk Panta.

I worked in strategy and my first goal was to become a permanent employee. The team I worked with was decent, but I didn't exactly have any friends. However, I also had no complaints and the work was all right. Except for one problem and his name was Kaidan Berkeley.

Kaidan or rather Kai Berkeley was the sole heir to Berkeley Industries and the only child to Chairman Edmond Berkeley. Chairman Berkeley was a hardworking man who sacrificed his entire life to build the company. He was involved in everything and was generous to his employees but the same couldn't have been said for his son.

Kai was lazy, unmotivated, and never took a single thing seriously. Unfortunately, he oversaw Berk Tech, and everyone worked under him. However, Kai was barely present at work and on the days he decided to show face, he stayed for a maximum of an hour. He never gave a damn about work and handed his tasks over to his employees which gave interns like me a lot more work than we signed up for.

Today was a perfect example. Foreign investors from Japan had planned to visit months prior and the team worked extra hard to make an appealing and full-proof presentation. Kai Berkeley had one job and that was to be present for the meeting and present everyone's hard work.

Typically, he didn't show and as the investors with the chairman walked into the office towards the boardroom, everyone panicked. No one had the entire presentation at hand or knew every little detail because each individual only did the work their job role entailed. I was the only person that knew everything because as the newest intern, I had the job to crosscheck and proofread everything.

No one was able to reach Kai and the team had no choice but to have me do the presentation. I was not ready to take on such a big task but as the team manager said, their jobs and lives depended on me.

"Go on! "I was prompted.

I took into consideration how much I sweated and took a whiff of my armpits to make sure I had no foul odour. Thankfully, I still smelled like deodorant and soap. After one more deep breath, I composed myself and entered the boardroom.

My eyes directly met the dark brown of Chairman Berkeley and his dark brows with grey stands knitted together. I almost heard the ten thousand questions that must've run through his head and felt the anger that he kept bottled in.

I had a job to do, and everyone's livelihood depended on me. I plastered on a smile, straightened my jacket, and cleared my throat. "Good morning and welcome. I'm Clover Wright and will be presenting to all of you today."

One hour. The presentation took an hour, but it felt as if I'd lived half my life already. I plopped myself at my desk, cheek down on the wooden surface, and groaned.